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Tomorrow is November 14th; Nothing Tops the Reason We Started…….and Nothing Ever Will.

I’m all in favor of everything that will happen tomorrow, and for that matter, all this month regarding diabetes. Happy Birthday tomorrow, Dr. Banting and thank you for creating insulin; it–more than anything else ever discovered, created, invented, researched, and/or implemented is still the single-best finding EVER in the world of diabetes…..and everything else pales in comparison.

But we surely are glad that everything else that has come along and will continue to come along on this journey……aren’t we?

I always find myself thinking many things during this month. My thoughts come down to one thing each and every year during this month. Why I got involved in the first place. And that reason is still a little girl who asked me, in crib/bed at the hospital in 1992 when she said, ‘Daddy, fix.”

No matter what has happened in this journey, it all comes down to her. And in 2009 her brother was added to that drive. Two of my three kids having diabetes. It’s still my single focus and all that matters to me at the end of the day. It’s why I try not to get caught up in ‘stuff’ that does not interest me. What interests me is helping others and seeing that one day this disease is cured. For Kaitlyn. For Rob. For others.

Cured.

Nothing short of that is acceptable in my eyes. Many things that come along are appreciated but I’m always reminded of the headline when insulin was discovered which stated that it had been cured……..hmmmmmm?…..greatly helped……but not cured.

I have a definition of cured in my mind, and you have what that means to you as well. We may differ how we will get there. We may differ on who, or what, will lead the way. We may differ on what ‘word’ we want to get out to the masses. We may differ what symbol and/or color should be used to represent us all. We may differ on who has written what, and how we sometimes want to hug the person, and sometimes we may even want to punch them in the nose. We may differ on organizations. We may differ on the emphasis of what is important.

I have said it a million times, just ‘Don’t do Nothing’. And yet, over the years people have informed me that all they choose to do is take care of what they need to and I have learned we may differ in that thought too.

But at the end of the day; when we crawl into bed, sign that last letter, post that last comment, give that last dollar, undo that last black-tie, tie that last sneaker, pedal that last bike we need to stop and we should look upon the face that started it all for us. No we do not need a reminder how we got involved, we will always remember the reason. But as the thirteenth of November turns into the fourteenth of November, look upon the face of the one who got you here. Either as they sleep, or by looking at a picture.

And say to yourself yet again: Nothing matters as much.

For me, nothing ever did matter more……and nothing ever will. Keep that thought and realize just how wonderful you are…….and multiply that by a hundred to realize just how wonderful and special your kids are as well. And how much their siblings and other relatives and friends have been there to help.

And remember this……..no matter WHAT has happened to you in this journey, that face still stands as the single most reason to continue what ever it is that you do. That is Diabetes Awareness Day to me; always has been….always will be….and it happens every day. You?